Friday, February 26, 2010

Baby, it's cold outside

A bitter cold evening calls for something to warm the innards and "fill up the corners", as Bilbo would say. The picture below isn't that great, but the dish was most inviting and we were so ravenously hungry that I didn't have the patience to try to get a better shot. Lamb stew with preserved lemons - a taste of tangy sunshine, with a side of buttery sweet acorn squash.

O preserved lemons, where have you been all my life? You've brought some Mediterranean warmth into my winter-weary kitchen. Thanks to Melissa over at Quotidian Life who provided the recipe. If you like lemons, do yourself a favor and make these. They are easy-peasy and oh-so good. They will forever be a staple in my pantry.

I made up the lamb stew recipe as I went along. In our house we call these "ohmygosh" meals because they're either ohmygosh good or ohmygosh not-so-much. In a dutch oven I browned a hunk of boneless lamb roast in tablespoon of butter. To this I added a can of stewed tomatoes and one preserved lemon. Covered the pot and baked at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. The baked acorn squash added a sweet balance to the intensely lemony dish. Our dinner table conversation consisted mainly of words like "yum" and "more, please".

7 comments:

Niamh
said...

What sort of blasphemy is this? an "ohmygosh not-so-much", I have never tasted such a thing at your house, you even seem to make beets edible if that can be. Zac will have to tell us about some of your "ohmygosh not-so-much" meals, cause he's never said anything about those meals...like they are deep dark secrets of your kitchen that no one speaks about, and all this time I thought they didn't exist. I love the idea of lemon and lamb. Red meats are amazing. You will have to save a lemon for the next time Zac and I are able to visit, then we can taste the amazement!

Niamh, <3 thank you, but I have made plenty of "ohmygosh not-so-much" meals in my time. Zach's just being polite. The ones he didn't like usually involved zucchini. And the whole "ohmygosh" got started when I had made something and usually forgot a very crucial ingredient.

I still ate the zucchini, and I didn't dislike it in everything (thinking of your excellent zucchini bread). My memory may not be perfect, but the "not-so-much" meals seemed to be very rare events, and always pale in comparison to your many "oh-my-gosh-seconds-and-thirds-please" dishes.

I once made boiled eggs and forgot the water...the eggs kept cooking til we heard loud popping and realized that there was no water. I made chocolate chip cookies and forgot the baking soda, they were flat and runny. Now I do an "ingredients check" before I put anything in the oven...so all I forget are the proper steps for putting the ingredients in...like flouring the cake pan before you put the batter in. The things I bake usually taste right, they just don't have the proper texture when I skip steps - no harm, no foul. After all we wouldn't have brownies if someone hadn't made an error while trying to make fudge...a divine error. God bless chocolatiers, they can do no wrong.

Niamh, I've burnt chocolate, trying to melt it, more than once. Had no clue what a double-boiler was for the longest time. And I almost burnt down the kitchen because I forgot a pan of heating oil; and the best of all: When I was a young bride, my hubby invited friends from work for dinner. He told them I was a great cook; it was the worst meal I ever, ever, EVER made. It took me a long time to ever want to cook for anyone again. :)

I have to agree with Niamh and Zach - never in my life knowing the Acorn have I ever had a meal that was "ohmygosh not-so-much". And I've had my share of meals with the Acorn and clan.

But I know what you mean about throwing everything together and trusting that it'll turn out not only edible, but also very tasty. Thankfully for Daniel, there are very few "not-so-much" meals anymore! But they seem to be always lurking around the next dinner corner, showing their rotten faces when they're not welcome!

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I'm a Christian. I am an artist. I am married to my best friend, and together we made four of the most interesting people I ever met. I am unashamedly in love with my Creator. My greatest hope is that my ordinary life will reflect His staggering beauty.